History Lesson
by Great Angemon
Summary: Link and Zelda are in the library, and Link asks about the history of the Hylian Shield. Zelda explains its complicated history, and tries to make Link understand the reason for its conception. Gift!fic for Irish Panter(IP). takes place after OoT.


History Lesson

By GreatAngemon

"Zelda."

"Hmm?" Zelda asked, looking up from her book. Across the table, Link was flipping through a history book.

"Do you remember which book the Hylian Shield is in?" he asked, dropping one book, and picking up another.

"Why do you need to know?"

"I want to see if I can find the history again."

"If you want the history, I can help you," Zelda said. She closed her book, set it on the table. With a small wave of her hand, every book on the table lifted themselves up and flew to their places on the shelves.

"Now, let's see," she continued."The Hylian Shield…" She closed her eyes, while Link watched her."The Thunder Dragon, Lanayru, wanted to create a shield that wouldn't break."

"Because the first hero's other shields didn't work the best, right?"

"Right. When the first hero made it to the Lanayru Gorge, he played in a game that the dragon had created, called the Lightning Round."

"And the hero had to beat eight challenges to get the shield."

"Yep." Zelda opened her eyes."Why do you need me to tell you this if you seem to already know the whole history?"

"You didn't let me tell you what I wanted specifically," Link said.

"Well, what do you want to know about?"

"You know that upside down triangle at the bottom of the shield?" Zelda nodded. "What does that stand for? I understand the Triforce being above the phoenix, but why is there a triangle at the bottom?"

Zelda looked at Link, and said, "That's a very interesting question, and it has a very interesting history."

"Which is?" Link prompted.

"Well, you know the Golden Goddesses, right?"

"Din, Farore and Nayru, right?"

"Yep," Zelda said. "But not a lot of people know that after they left, they sent the goddess Hylia here to protect the world they had created."

"Okay," Link said slowly, "But what does that have to do with the shield?"

"I'm getting to it," Zelda snapped. She leaned back, and continued, "Well, her worst enemy was a demon named Demise."

"I've heard of him," Link interrupted. "He's the one that laid the curse of hatred on the hero and the goddess."

"Right. Well, the three dragons were servants of the goddess Hylia, and Lanayru was the one who created the shield, right?"

"I guess," Link muttered.

"Laynayru created the shield and used the Triforce to symbolize the Golden Goddesses creation of the world. He put the phoenix on to represent Hylia, who was his Goddess, and he put the upside down triangle to represent Demise."

"Why would he represent a demon on the hero's shield?"

"For balance," Zelda answered. "He was a wise dragon, and he knew that life needs balance."

"But what does that have to do with the shield?"

"The shield represents life," Zelda said."The Triforce is a symbol of life in Hyrule, the phoenix is a symbol of rebirth."

"And he decided to represent Demise to balance life," Link said.

"Right." Zelda sat up. "Did you know that the Goddesses created the Triforce without the ability to use it themselves?'"

"No, but what does that have to do with the Shield?"

"Because only one person in history has ever been able to use the power of the Triforce as a whole, instead of just one piece."

"Who was that?"

"The Goddess' Knight."

"You mean the hero of Hylia's era?"

"Uh-huh. So, back on topic, do you know why Demise was such a feared enemy?"

"Because he was a demon?" Link guessed. Zelda shook her head. "Because he could use powerful magic?" Zelda shook her head again. "Why, then?"

"Because it is said that one man of malicious intent can easily counter the acts of three men of virtue and good will."

"So he could undo everything the Golden Goddesses had done?"

"Yes," Zelda said. "And the scary thing is, he wasn't even as powerful as the Gods. He was only as powerful as Hylia, maybe slightly stronger, and he nearly undid everything done by her and her predecessors."

"Wow," Link said. He leaned back in his chair, and muttered, "And I thought Ganondorf was bad."

"That's because Ganondorf _is_ Demise," Zelda said.

Link's chair tipped backwards, sending him sprawling on the ground. Zelda giggled as the top of his head popped over the edge of the table. He hat was lopsided, and his hair disheveled. "What do you mean Ganondorf _is_ Demise?"

"You remember the curse of hatred you mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Well, his curse carried itself over from generation to generation, creating a new monster for the hero of time to fight."

"Like?"

"Well, the hero of the Minish, one of the more recent incarnations, had to fight Vatti, who had been possessed by the spirit of Demise. And you had to fight Ganondorf."

"Wow," Link said. "That's one powerful curse."

"Yeah," Zelda said. She looked behind her, out the window, and said, "Link, do you want to go outside and play?"

"Okay," Link said, shrugging. He stood up, fixed his hat, and waited as Zelda stood up. "Thanks for the history lesson, Zel."

"That's Princess Zelda to you," Zelda said, grimacing at her hated nickname.

"Whatever."


End file.
